I just bought an 05 with 15K. The owner installed custom wheels and what looks to be about a 2-3" spacer on the rear wheels. Went to get new tires installed at Discount Tires and they seem very reluctant to install with the spacer. Should I be concerned?

 

They usually will not mess with any wheels with spacers due to liability reasons but 2-3 inch seems excessive. I took my rims to Discount Tire and then installed them at home with the spacers.

 

tire places will not install any wheels with spacers due to liability as previously mentioned. they said since the wheel is not the correct size, they will not install the wheel.

2-3" is ... a LOT. i got 15MM and those are very wide.. (.60")

 

I never heard of 2 - 3 inch spacers. That seems excessive. I have 12mm on the rears, and 10mm in front. NTB had no issues installing my wheels/tires with the spacers.

 

I agree, spacers are almost always measured in MM, so the PO must have used wheels with a really odd offset for the XF. Spacers by themselves shouldn't be an issue with the car, assuming they are in good shape (aren't bent or cracked). The only real concern with spacers, especially if you aren't the person who installed them, is to make sure that the PO bought lugs or studs that are long enough for the wheel/spacer combo. You don't want to use stock length lugs on wheels where spacers are used as you want as much of the lug threading to make contact with the hub. This would be the only thing I would be concerned about if I was you.

 

Also, are they hub centric spacers? If not, throw them in the garbage where they belong.....

 

I believe hub centric spacers are perfectly safe and have 10mm spacers in the rear with my OEM Mercedes wheels. Neither Discount Tire nor NTB have said a word about them. I wouldn't go near non hub centic spacer or any that are 2-3 inches thick!

 

50-70mm spacers are normal
they should be bolt ons though, not slip ons.
and yes, they should be hubcentric.

we use them all the time on our drift cars, if they can survive that type of beating, they are perfectly acceptable for street use.